Upper Knot is São Paulo's dedicated fine cheese shop, sourcing aged and artisan wheels from Brazilian producers and select European caves, cut to order every morning.
Beatriz Fonseca spent seven years as a sommelier at a fine-dining restaurant in Jardins before she noticed something: the cheese course was always an afterthought. The wheels came from a distributor, nobody knew the producer, and the staff…
Read moreNothing sits pre-wrapped overnight. Every piece is cut from the wheel at the time of your order, so the paste stays alive and the rind stays honest.
We visit producers in Minas Gerais, Serra Gaúcha, and the Basque Country once a year to taste before we buy. If it did not move us, it does not go on the board.
Every order leaves the shop in an insulated box with a gel pack rated for 36 hours. We do not ship on Fridays to avoid weekend warehouse delays.
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"Beatriz Fonseca trained as a sommelier at the Instituto Brasileiro do Vinho in Porto Alegre, graduating in 2011. She spent the following seven years as head sommelier at Restaurante Arvoredo in Jardins, São Paulo, where she managed a cellar of over 400 labels and first developed a serious interest in cheese as a pairing category. In 2018 she completed an affineur course at the Escola de Gastronomia Social Ivens Dias Branco in Fortaleza. She opened Upper Knot in March 2019 after two weeks of farm visits in the Serra da Canastra. Outside the shop, she keeps a small herb garden on her apartment terrace and is working through a project to document every artisan cheese producer in Minas Gerais."
Yes, we ship to any city in Brazil via a temperature-controlled courier. Orders placed by Tuesday noon arrive Thursday. We do not ship on Fridays. Shipping starts at R$ 35 for São Paulo capital and varies by region. We pack every order with a 36-hour gel pack.
Absolutely. Walk-ins are welcome Tuesday through Sunday. We always have two or three cheeses open on the counter for tasting. The only time we ask for advance notice is for private tastings in the back room, which need at least 72 hours' booking.
Wrap it in the wax paper we include, not cling film. Keep it in the least-cold part of your fridge, usually the vegetable drawer. Most of our cheeses are happiest between 8°C and 12°C. Take it out 30 minutes before eating. The pairing card on each wedge has specific notes.
Event boards start at 20 guests. We deliver, set up, and collect the boards the following morning. For garden parties and outdoor events in summer, we recommend booking at least two weeks ahead because July and August fill up quickly.